Best Gifts 2015

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Whether you're buying a high-tech token of affection for that special someone or a birthday gift for Mom, everyone loves gadgets. Finding the right gift, however, can be a challenge with so many compelling products vying for your attention. Fortunately, we've picked the best products to get you started.

Proving that Chromebooks can be affordable and sexy, Toshiba's Chromebook 2 sports a gorgeous 1080p display in a silvery textured design that's just as portable and compact as the MacBook Air. This $329 stunner also impresses with its loud and clear Skullcandy-powered speakers. The Chromebook 2's 2.58-GHz Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM combine to provide silky smooth performance, whether you're surfing the Web, updating Facebook or playing games. Add in nearly 8 hours of battery life and you have a lightweight laptop anyone would love.

Laptop Backpack

The water-resistant polyester exterior of the Samsonite Xenon 2 will keep things dry in the rain, while the adjustable and padded straps will make sure this laptop backpack always fits perfectly. It's TSA-friendly, so you can take this bag through airport security quickly. Plus, the simple black design is perfect for any occasion.

External Hard Drive

To store 9 hours of RAW 4K video, you'll need about 1TB of storage space. With the same amount of space, photographers can hold up to 320,000 high-resolution photos. Music buffs can store 17,000 hours of music. Or, you may just need to back up your computer. All of those are great reasons for grabbing the Seagate Expansion USB 3.0 1TB drive. If you're storing the entire contents of the Library of Congress, though, you'll need 174 of these drives, but for one person, this ought to be plenty.

Portable USB Hub

Sometimes, you just need more ports, and the Anker USB 3.0 4-Port is ready to travel wherever you are. It measures just 3.4 x 1.8 x 1.1 inches and weighs just 2.9 ounces. The aluminum exterior will reduce scratches that result when you repeatedly plug in various USB keys and accessories.

Amazon set the tablet market on fire with its super affordable Fire HD 6, which performs like a much more valuable slate. For just $99, this little puppy offers 8 hours and 27 minutes of battery life combined with an accurate and bright 6-inch display. Thanks to the company's excellent parental controls and separate profiles, the Fire HD 6 is perfect for families. Plus, Amazon Prime ($99 per year) members will enjoy tons of free e-books, music and videos.

Proving Chromebooks aren't the only affordable laptops on the market with great battery life, the Asus EeeBook X205TA comes with Windows 8.1 preloaded. Its slim design and excellent endurance (12 hours and 5 minutes) make this model great for an avid traveler who needs more than a tablet, but would rather not carry a 15-inch laptop. And for $199, the bright screen, Intel Atom processor and one year of 1TB cloud storage make this almost impulse-buy worthy.

The edge-to-edge display on the Dell XPS 13 will turn heads. The quad-HD touch screen is gorgeous, and essentially puts a 13-inch screen in an 11-inch carbon-fiber body. Starting at $799, it also includes an Intel Core i5 processor, which makes it more powerful than other machines in its class.

Laptop Lock

Laptops and tablets keep getting thinner, so your security options have to keep up. The Kensington MiniSaver Mobile Lock features the company's Cleat Locking Technology, which means this little cord can be inserted into any security lock slot. It's specifically designed with Chromebooks, 2-in-1 hybrids, tablets and Ultrabooks in mind. The carbon-steel cables pivot and rotate to stay out of your way.

Smartphone

The eye-popping display on the Galaxy S6 is just the beginning of its appeal. On the inside, Samsung and Android 5.0 Lollipop work together to add some helpful user-interface improvements, such as split-screen mode. On the outside, the sexy metal design combines with a top-of-the-line smartphone camera to make a stellar smartphone option. All told, this is the best Android phone right now.

Women's Laptop Bag

Inside this sleek, polyester exterior you'll find a padded compartment fitted for laptops of up to 15.6 inches, as well as a plum interior lining with a zippered accessory pocket and an organizer section. Outside, metal feet protect the bottom of the bag. The metal studs around the top edges add an extra touch of personality.

Alienware continues to impress with its 17-inch (2014) gaming laptop. With crystal-clear audio from Klipsch, top-of-the-line graphics from Nvidia with 3GB of RAM, and a 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, you can light up your opponents at ease. Speaking of lighting, the customizable backlit keyboard is the best in the business. To top off the package, a swift touchpad, a roomy keyboard and a stunning redesign all fit inside one sexy chassis.

One of the most unique gifts of the year is also one of the most powerful. The Shield Tablet is an Android slate and gaming console in one. The optional $60 wireless controller turns this tablet into a gaming powerhouse, letting you play the latest first-person shooters with deadly precision. And if the gamer on your list has a gaming desktop, he can stream the latest PC games right to the device, which you can plug into your TV. Bonus: a built-in stylus lets them take notes or draw in between fragging sessions.

Laptop Stand

The average table height is 29.5 inches, but the average eye level for a person is somewhere between 40 and 50 inches. Avoid eyestrain with a simple laptop stand, such as the aluminum Rain Design mStand. As the tilt design increases airflow around the laptop, it becomes healthier for your machine, too. It even offers a handy place to store your cables on the underside.

External Keyboard

The 3.5-inch, multitouch touchpad to the right of the keys will be the first thing you notice about the Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400. That touchpad also features two buttons. It's wireless, is powered by two AA batteries and weighs just 1.1 pounds, so it's also easy to use anywhere. The company claims that the keyboard has a wireless range of 33 feet.

Wireless Mouse

Microsoft's Designer Bluetooth Mouse pairs wirelessly with your laptop or tablet via Bluetooth 4.0. The ambidextrous, black-matte design is sleek and simple. It runs on two AAA batteries, meaning it should last up to 6 months on a charge.

Desk USB Hub

The incredibly helpful Satechi 10-Port Aluminum USB 3.0 Hub adds seven USB ports to your computer and three charging ports to provide power to other devices. With data rates of up to 5 Gbps, you shouldn't see any lag. Plus, its aluminum finish keeps your desk looking classy.